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J. T, THOMPSON. MEANS FOR LUBRICATING AMMUNITION.

APPLICATDN FILED OCT. 16, 19|?.

Patented Muy 27, 1919.

6 SHEETS-SHEET I.

Lmllllllrlmm Mmmm@ www .affini .414. "E:

l :l [Idil J. T. THOMPSON.

MEANS FOR LUBRICANNG AIVIMUIHTIONJ APPLICATION man ocr. le, 1941.

. 3 ,$355991 Hmmm May :en 1919.

6 SHEETSSHEET 2.

MEANS FOR LUBRICATSNG AMMUNITION.

APPLlcATmN man ocT.1. 1917.

Patented May 27, 1919.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

L T. THOMPSON.

- MEANS Fon LUBRICATING AMMuNmoN.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 16. |91(- m-@nml Muy 27, 1919.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

J. T. THOMPSON.

MEANS FOR LUBRICATING AMMUNITION. APPLICATION FILED ocT..I6.|9I1.

1,305,027. Patented May27, 1919.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

I@ gli? (I 43 1. T.'TH0MPS0N. MEANS FOR LUBRICATING AMMUNITION.

APPLICATION FILED OCT'. I6. |911.

l,305,G2'7. Patented May 27, 1919.

6 SHEETS-SHEET. 5.

JOHN T. THOMPSON, OF NEWPORT, KENTUCKY.

Specification I" Letters Patent.

MEANS FORLUBRCTIL'TG AMMUNITION.

Patented May 27, 1919.

Original application led June is, 191?, Serial No. 175,152. Divided andthis application -led Detober'l,

1917. seriai No. 198,882.

T0 all whom it may concern Be itknown that l, JOHN T. Tiioiirson, acitizen ot' the UnitedStates ot America,

and resident of Newport, in the countyct in of ti'idge, shell or othertype ot fixed anii'nu-nition before Vit is seated iii` the chamber.

The obJect cie the present inventionpis to provide means t'or obtainingproper lubrication liet-Ween the contacting surfaces ci theaiiin'iunition thereto, during operation of4 the gun' or firearm, withlubricating means so disposed with respect to the firing chambei' as toe'ect proper lubrication of the contacting surfaces between theammunition case and the ring chamber. 'In the preferred forms shown anddescribed in the .present illustrated disclosure of my inven- 1 tion,the lubricant is applied to the ammunition 'While the lat-tei' ispassing` into the -magazine or .from the magazine to the firing' chamberor both; but, of course, the desired lubrication. iiiajvT be secured invarious other Ways, it being' only essential that theaininunition belubricated by means associated with the. gun, or firearm, or the meansfor feeding' the aii'imunition to Vthe firing chainber, or thatlubrication be eiliected during' or after its introduction to the gunmechanism.

In the drawings herewith, and in the def -sci'iption accompanying thosedrawings, the

invention is shown as applied to a magazine i'iie oi"' anyordinary oi.'desired construc-l tion; the ainiiu'inition is shown as a cartridgeiiiade up of a charged metallic case or shell with a bullet mountedtherein in the usual mannerA` and the lubricatingy means is shown ascomprising a. pad oi' a series of pads to which the lubricant has beenapplied, and against which the ammunition is' brought into contact whilethe lat-ter is passing into the magazine or troni thc magazine to thetiring chamber, or both, but it is to be understood that thisillustration and description is merely one adaptation of the inventionand is in no way restrictive of the i.uven v tion.

.ln the 'drawing-5s:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional View through so much ot a magazinerifle as is necessary to show the applic-ation of one eiiiboiiliment otinv invention thereto, in this eniliodiineiit the lubricating padsbeingdisposed, within and extending longitudinallfyr of the iiiagaz/.ineopening of the receiver.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectioiial-i'iew taken transversel)v through thereceiver and magazine oi" a gun structure similark to that shown inFig'. l.

3 is an enlarged detail view taken on a longitudinal linethro-ugh vthemagazine opening' of the gun show i in Fig'. 2.

Fig'. Il is a sectional View taken transversely tlvii'ough the receiverof` the gun shown in Fig. l and shows a slightly differentarrangement otlubricating pads.

Fig'. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 but the lubricating pad is disclosedas located upon the inclined surface up which the cart-ridgei'ides'ivhen forced into the firing chamber.

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal vView taken centrally through Fig. 5.

,Fig .7 is a. t'aiisverse vertical sectional vieu-'through the magazineportion of another type of gun, and shows another ein-l bodiiiient of myinvention.

Fig'. S is a sectional view taken on line` S--TS 7. Y A

Fig'. 9 is a vertical longitudinal View through the structure shown inFig. 7.

l0 and 'l1 are similar to Figs. 2 and 3 but show a slightly diiierentarrangement of pads.

Figs. l2, 13 and M'are similar to Figs. 7,

8 and 9 respectivelv, but show another enibodiinent of my invention. u

Figs. 1'5 and 16 are similar to Figs. 10

and 11 but show a slightly different manner of mounting the pads 'withinthe Imagazine magazine having a lubricating pad against r i which thecartridges are ,adapted to engage.

Fig. 21 is-a side elevational view ofthe extension magazine parts of themagazine being broken away to more clearly villustrate the lubricatingpad.

Fig. 2Q is Mansverse section taken on the line 22-f22 of Fig.

Figs, 23, 24 aiidfl. ard `enlarged fragmeiitarysectinalf'views throughportions of the wall of the magazine opening of the receiver and areillustrativeA of the various changes in details of which my invention isx susceptible.

Referring to the drawings, and more particularly-to Fig. 1, wherein isdisclosed so much of aregulation rifle now used inthe United States Armyas is necessary to illustrate the application of my invention thereto,10 designates-the stock, llt-he barrel,y 12

y the breech bolt, 13 the firing pin rod, 14 the striker, 15 the firingchamber of the barrel, and 16 the magazine! Located within the magazineis a follower 17, and the magazine is closed by a 'loor plate 18, lockedin 4position by a floor plate catch 19. The follower plate is normallyurged upwardly soy as to retain the uppermost cartridge 20 against theoverhanging ledge 21, Fig. 2) by means of va magazine spring 21. Betweenthe magazine and the barrel is a .receiver 22having a slanting orinclined feeding' surface 23, which directs the' cartridges, during thefeed-ing of the same from the magazine to the firing chamber, into thefiring cham- Ii; is not deemed necessary to describe eachof the partsillustrated, for the construction 'of these parts and the operation ofthe gun or rifle .will be readily understood by those familiar with thisart. It is understood, of course, that during the operaof the gun andupon extraction of the "ipty ammunition case, the bolt 12. is withynfrom the magazine opening and the ower urges the uppermost shellupwardly against one' ofthe overlianging ledges 21'.

Upon the forward movement of the bolt, its

forward end will'engage the uppermost edge of the cartridge and` forcethe .same forwardly, and the cartridge will ride up the .any absorbentfelt or fabric.

Leonce? inclined'feeding surface 23 into the firing chamber.l

In'the embodiments of my invention disclosed in Figs. 1 to 3, thelubricating means is shown iis-comprising pads 24 located in the'magazine opening of the receiver 22 immediately above the upper edge ofthe magazine 16. 4These pads may be mounted in any suitable mannen'butby way, of illustration, they are disclosed as bein located in grooves25 extending longitudina ly of the magazine opening off receiver 22, andthese grooves have their opposite edges undercut so that the edges ofthe pads may engage in the undercut portions of the grooves, and' bere'- tained in position thereby.

. The pads may be of any suitable material,`

and if desired, they may be constructed of For' the purpose ofintroducing a lubricant to the pads have disclosed oil holes 26extending through the stock of the gun, and the metal-v lic walls of themagaziney opening',v and, of

course, on'e or more of these oil ducts maybe employed for each pa'df, v

It will be seen that during the operation of the gun and while thecartridge'isbeing loaded into the magazine or is passing froml themagazine to the ring chamber, the cartridges are successively broughtinto'engagement with one of thepads 24 so that the cartridges aredelivered to the ytiringchamber in a lubricated condition. The pads arelocated in the path of travel of the cartridgesI to the firing chamber,so that proper lubrication of each cartridge is insured. When employinga magazine the lubricating means should be sov positioned that each ofthe cartridgesis brought into operative relationto the lubricating meansin transit to the firing chamber. -The cartridges are lfed into themagazine 16 through the magazine opening of the receiver 22, and Whilebeing so intro-.l

duced they come into contact with the lubricating-.pads 24. I have foundthat it is not necessary to lubricate the entire cir cumferentialexternal surface of the cartridges or ammunition, and that it is onlynecessary' to apply the lubricant to the cartridge along one or morelines of its periphery. The amount of lubricant necessary 'between theexternal surface of the ammunition and the internal surface 'of thefiring chamber to insure a smooth operation of the gun, is comparativelysmall, thev amount depending, of course, upon the type-of gun used. y'

In Fig. 4, the pads 24 are also located in the internal walls of themagazine opening of the recei r butin this embodiment,th c

greater amount of lubricant is applied to the cartridges as they passfrom the magazine to the firing cha ber. f v f In Figs. 5 and 6, insteadof ylocating the pads extend over greater surfaces so that a padsadjacent the upper edge of the magazine 16, I have illustrated a pad2-'1b mounted` updn theinclined surface 23 up which the cartridges ridewhen being fed into the firing charber 15. It will be seen that as thecartridges ride up the inclined surface,

they will wipe against the pad so as to take up a proper amount oflubricant.

In Figs. 7 8 and 9, I have'shown my vnivention applied to a differenttype of magazine, the cartridges being arranged in a single columninstead of staggered as in Fig. 2, the arrangement being employed 1nthe:

Ross rii'lefffihe magazilne is designated by the numeral 27 and adjacentthe upper edge ofthis magazine are located pads 24, these pads .beingsimilar in structure, andl being mountedY in a manner like those shownin Figs. 1 to 3.

, mounted, are undercut at their upper edges Figs. 10 and 11 are similarto Figs. 2 and 3 but in this embodiment, instead of locating continuouspads longitudinally \in Athey walls of the magazine opening, I haveillustrated a series of small `spaced apart pads 24d. The grooves inwhich the pads 2i" are for the reception of the upper ends of the pads.It is, of coursefobvious that any ninnber of pads 24d may be employedalong each side of the magazine opening, and that their .manner ofattachment..may"b,e varied as desired. For instance, the grooves inwhich the pads `are located may haveV their vertical edges undercut asdesignated the numeral 2'5, in Figs. 15 and 16.

In the embodiment shown in Figs. 12, 13 and 14 I have shownthe'pads-2Jil as lbeing disposed vertically of the magazineclaniber of asingle column feed magazine. As the cartridges 'are moved upwardly, theyAwill Y engage against the pads Qf so as to receive the lubricant, asshown in Fig. 12;

In Figs. 17, 1S and 19 the saine structure of gnnis illustrated as thatshown in Figs. vand 6. The pads 24g instead ot' being mounted within themagazine opening of the receiver as shown in Figs. v2 and 3, are located.within and adjacent tlieupper edge of the'magazine 16' and extendlongitudinally thereof. Referring new to the embodiment shown in Figs.20, 2l land 22, wherein I have illustratedan extension magazine securedto the 'regulation rifle ofthe United States Army, :the magazine isdisclosed as having, on its opposite wa11s,-lubricatingpads 24, and inthis particular illustrative disclosure, these vplads cover aboutone-half of the opposite walls of the eiitension magazine. It is, of'

course, obvious, however, that the pads may cover the entire surface ofthe walls of the magazine, or'they may be limited .in width .iand'belocated adjacent 'the upper edge of "thefmaaz1ne,-it being .onlyessential that the-pa s.- are so located that Athe cartridges stored inthe magazine may be properly lubricated while passing to the firingchamber. It desired the pads may be covered with a wire netting 28,secured in place by metallic strips 29 and screws 30, the latter beingpassed "through suitable openings in the magazine walls and beingthreaded into openings in the strips 29S I It is,of course, obvious thatwhile I have shown in some of the precedingl embodiments, thelubricating means as comprising pads of felt mounted within grooves, I.do not wish' to restrict myself to this particu- .-lar type oflubricating means. vThe pads Vcomprising a roller may be of any suitableconstruction and may be attached in any suitable manner. It desired, thepads may be resiliently urged outwardly of the grooves, by means of aspring 31 as shownin Fig. 23, or a pliant or soft rubber pad 82 as shownin Fig. 25. Instead of a stationary pad, a rotating brush or roller maybe employed, and as 'illustrating one of the innumerable modifications/'of which'my invention is susceptible, -I have shownv in Fig. 24 thelubricating means as The magazines herein referred to may be either'fixedly or l cartridge and the chamber is insured. How-4 ever, theparticular means and the manner` for lubricating the cartridges areshown by` way 0i' illustration only; andit is understood that properlubrication, ot' the cai'- tridges during oi.' attent-heir introductionto the `gun mechanism, or the means for Yfeeding the cartridgesthereto,may be effected in any suitable manner.

I claim: f .n 1. I'A gun comprising a magazine, aiiring chamber, means'for "feeding ammunition from the magazine to the firing chamber,

and means disposed at least .partially within theim'agazine forlubricating the ammunition.

I 2. A. gun comprising a magazine, a firing chamber, vmeans for feedingammunition from the magazine to the firing chamber,

and means mounted in the magazine for applying lubrication to theamnninition before it enters the firing chamber. 3. A guncomprising amagazine, a firing chamber, means for feeding ammunition A'from themagazine to the'tiring chamber,

and means disposed at least partially within eating the ammunition.

the magazine in the path 'f .travel of the ammunition t'o the firingchamber forliibri- 4. A giin comprising a magazine, a firing Chamber,means for feeding ammunition from the magazine4 to thefiriiig chamber,and means disposed at least partiallywithin the magazine for lubricatingammunition singly While in transit to the firing chamber.l 5. A guncomprising a magazine, a firing. chamber, means for feeding ammunitionfrom the magazine to the firing chamber,

and means disposed at least partially in the magazine forautomaticallylubricatingammunition While in transit to the firingchamber.

6. A- gun comprising a magazine, a firing chamber, and alubricant-carrying body disposed at least in part in the magazine so asto contact with the ammunition.'

7. A gun comprising a magazine,` a iring chamber, and alubricant-carrying body disposed at least in part in the magazine in thepathof ammunition in transit to the firing chamber.

8. A gun comprisinga magazine, a ring A chamber, and alubricant-absorbent body/ disposed at least in part in 'the magazine. soas to contact with the ammunition.

9. A gun comprising a magazine, a firing chamber, a lubricant-carryingbody disposed` at least in part in the magazine so as to contact withthe' ammunition, and

means for supplying lubricant to said body.v

10. A gun comprising a, magazine, a fir-l ing chamber', and alubricant-carrying body disposed at least in part in the magazine in thepath of 'ammiinition'in transit to.

the firing chamber, the? gun having ducts for supplying oil to the body.11. A gun comprising a firing chamber, means for 'feeding ammunition tothe firing chamber, and one oi"l more elongate liibricant-carryingVbodies disposed in, and longitudinally of, the path of travel of thea1nmunition to the firing chamber for lubrieating the ammunition in'transit.

. 12. A gun .comprising a magazine, afir'- ing chamber, means forfeeding am1nunition from the magazine to the firing chamber, and oneormore elongate lubricant'- 'cai'rying bodies disposed at least in part inthe magazine longitudinally of the path of travel of the ammunition forlubricating the ammunition.'

13,'A gun comprising a .firing chamber,

means for lubricating the ammunition be-I fore it is seated in thefiring chamber, and a reticulatecovering for at least a portion of thelubricating means.

, 14. A gunvcompi'isiiig a firing chamber,

means for feeding ammunition to the firing chamber, a,lubricant-carrying body disposed along tlie path of travel of ammuni.

tion in transit to they firing chamber, and a ieticilate covering overat least a portion of the lubricant-carryingbody, whereby lubiicant issupplied through.. the reticulate covering to theA ammunitionJintransit.

15. A gun comprising ,a firing chamber, means for feeding ammunition tothe' firing chamber,y a liibiicant-carryiiig body disposed along the.path of. travel of aminuni tion in transit totlie iringchai'nber, and areticulate covering of hard material over atleast aportion of thelubricant-carrying body, whereby lubricant is supplied through thereticulate covering to theiamiiiunition 1n transit. y 1 6. A ,guncomprising a firing chamber,

means for feeding ammunition to the firing Signed by me at Viasliington,tenth day. of October19172 JOHN T.,THOMPSON.

